Jessica Taft

Global Scholar Award, University College London - Sociology

Jessica K. Taft is a Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Trained as a sociologist, she is an interdisciplinary youth studies scholar whose work focuses on the political lives of children and youth across the Americas. More specifically, she writes about youth activism and the ways that girls, children, and youth participate in social movements. She is the author of Rebel Girls: Youth Activism and Social Change Across the Americas (NYU Press 2011) and The Kids Are in Charge: Activism and Power in the Peruvian Movement of Working Children (NYU Press 2019) as well as over 15 articles and book chapters on youth organizations, political engagement, and intergenerational relationships. Her Fulbright Global Scholar project explores the relationship between child-led social movements and international children's rights institutions.